~Waylon~
"Where is Alexei?"
It was the first question I asked when I woke up from my C-section to find Artemis at the bottom of my hospital bed, crying into her mate's shoulder as he rocked her back and forth. Shocked by my voice, she turned her head but makes no attempt to wipe her tears as she opens her mouth only to have her voice silenced by her shaking.
"Lunos Waylon, he's- it's not good," Dante speaks for her and pulls her back into his arms, but that wasn't enough for me.
"What do you mean it's not good? You can't just say it's not good! I know he's not dead! He can't be!" my shouts flood the room and Ari takes in a shaky breath.
"Alexei sacrificed himself to protect you from Juniper. He was found at the bottom of Britannia cliff face with Markus of Forester. They're not dead but they're both in the intensive care unit in comas. Juniper, however, is dead," Ari manages to say as I try to get up but wince from the pain in my stomach.
"Hey, you just had three babies Wei, relax." Dante tries to calm me down but it's impossible. Alexei's going through so much pain just because he wanted to protect me so the least I can do is ignore my pain to go see him. I try again and this time I make it to the upright position before nearly collapsing from the pain.
"I want to see him now!" I yell and Dante hops over, pulling the wheelchair out from the corner of my depressing hospital room.
"Okay, okay hold on, let me help you," Dante pleads and I wait for him, as Ari wraps her arm around my shoulder. Together they help me slide off the bed to the wheelchair and I bite back the pain that makes me nearly pass out.
"I really don't think this is a good idea," Dante sighs but with one glare he begrudgingly pushes the wheelchair.
"He's not too far, just off this hallway to the right," Ari sniffles quietly as the three of us make our way down the hall together as one family unit. The darkness of the building makes me question how long I've really been knocked out for.
"What time is it?" I ask them and Dante checks his watch.
"It's about four in the morning. You had a few complications during your surgery which is why you were out for so long. You almost died Wei," Dante says but I just let out a long sigh.
"I'm still breathing am I not?" I huff and he ruffles my hair a bit. The hallway seems to go on forever but we eventually reach room 1200 where two names were posted on the door. Alexei of Crimson and Markus Grayson.
Grayson isn't a house name, it's my grandfather's last name.
"Waylon, I'm warning you it's not pretty. He's in rough shape," Ari tries to prepare me as she opens the door to his room, but nothing could have prepared me for this.
Connected to all these different machines which all make different beeping sounds on the large screen behind his bed, Alexei looks like he's sleeping. But it bothers me because he never sleeps flat on his back and he definitely can't sleep without me.
Alexei's once handsome jet black locks had been shaved with a row of stitches running along the side of his head. A series of jagged scratches ran along his swollen face and a large hand-shaped bruise formed on his throat. Multiple IV's dripped to his arm and a ventilator beside his bed was breathing for him.
Baby?
I tried to talk to him through our link but nothing came back, which worried me further. Dante pushes my wheelchair to be by his right side and I instantly grab his warm hand, cradling it in mine as if it was one of our babies.
"We're just going to go get coffee Wei, We'll be back," Dante and Ari excuse themselves to leave us be.
I kiss his hand while peering over Alexei's bed was the second bed where Markus was resting. Awake, he quietly watched me while he toyed with the curls of a guy who had passed out beside him.
"I'm sorry we fell together, I tried to stop our fall but he got hit in the head and we both tumbled to one of the plateaus," Markus apologizes and I quickly shake my head, not accepting any apologies from the man who saved my mate.
"You kept your promise and for that I am forever in your debt," I tell him honestly and he just gives a little shrug.
"Anything for my brother," He smiles and I dare to question him.
"How are we related? Where have you been? Why is your last name Grayson?" I ask while giving Alexei's hand a small squeeze. Markus clears his throat and just lets out a long sigh.
"My last name is only Grayson because my grandparents, Matthias and Luca, raised me. Apparently it's actually Kailea, but my parents wanted to keep me a secret. A couple of months after you were born, their youngest son, some guy named Noah, came to California with his bodyguard Remy to help my grandparents when they were building their tea shop. Unfortunately, Noah got pregnant with Remy's kid but he was mated to this big bad alpha who would've killed Remy if he found out. So I was born and they abandoned me in Californa with my grandparents so they could return to their perfect life on the island without consequences,"
Markus explains with a spark in his voice that is so similar to my Papa's that it catches me by surprise and the emotion of it all almost overwhelms me.
The guy beside him shift slightly and Markus catches himself, concerned about waking him. From the way he was gently caressing his hair and touching his shoulder, I know they're mated.
"It's a bunch of bullshit if you ask me and I came here to tell them that myself, but they're both dead so I guess I was only brought here by the goddess herself to save Alexei," He points to my comatose mate and his words strike me as a little odd.
"Papa passed away a few months ago but Makua, I mean Remy is still here," I tell him but he shakes his head.
"I'm sorry Waylon, but he committed suicide this morning," Markus tells me and yet another piece of my soul dies with him.
Kua didn't become one of my fathers until I was five but he taught me everything I know about fighting and how to protect myself because he was always scared someone would take advantage of me. Little did he know that person was my own sister.
"No, I'm sorry that you never got to meet them. Although what they did to you sounds awful, they were the greatest men I know. I'm sure seeing you again and knowing about what you did would have made them proud just as I'm proud to call you my brother," I sigh and Markus nods, staring out at the ceiling.
"My baba always told me I was just like Noah growing up. So tell me honestly, was he an asshole?" Markus asks and I laugh so loud it hurts all of my stitches.
"Yeah, he really was most of the time, I'm not gonna lie. But it was all a part of his charm. You knew when you messed up that yes, he was going to make fun of you, but he was also going to be the one to defend you or help you through whatever it was," I tell him and Markus smirks.
"So I guess it's true then. What about Remy?" He asks and my heart aches for my fallen parent.
"Remy is...was... just a giant teddy bear wrapped up in a tall wall of muscle. He was really sweet, kind, and generous. My siblings, I mean our siblings and I always went to him when we got hurt cause he use to sing this stupid little song to make our pain go away. Well, I thought it was stupid back then but now I know I'm going to use it when my boys hurt themselves which, being half Alexei's can pretty much guarantee I'll be singing it a lot," I chuckle and my brother smiles.
"Probably why I'm stuck with one hardcore side and one soft side," he says and I wonder what he's going to do next.
"So are you going to stay here or find a way back to America?" I ask him and he bites his lip with a loving gaze on the guy passed out.
"I think I'll stay and give it a shot," He says and the guys head falls to the side revealing Alpha Chase of Forester himself beside my brother. Interesting how we both got these gorgeous alpha males for mates. Even though I have a feeling their dynamic is reversed from Alexei and me.
"Besides don't these mates like die or something when you leave?" He asks and I nod.
"Sort of, but since you're unmarked you could reject him and be fine. But he would live with eternal heartbreak." I explain and Markus rakes his hand through Chase's messy hair. I almost didn't recognize him with his puffy closed eyes and dark circles.
"I haven't really been fair to him. He's been nothing but nice to me and I've just been a dick to the poor guy like it's his fault. I didn't think I was gay and to be honest guys kind of scared me." He says and I ponder what he meant.
Gay? What's a gay? Must be an American slang or something.
"I just can't stop thinking about him and it's kind of weird how one day I was perfectly fine without him, then the second I made eye contact with him it's like 'bam' life changed forever," Markus groans and I see a small smile building across Chase's lips while he continues to pretend to sleep.
"That's how it usually goes, but I'm pretty sure he'll forgive you," I tell him and my brother looks down at his acting mate.
"He's awake isn't he?" Markus asks and Chase attempts to snore only to have his head smacked by Markus.
"Oww, it's not my fault you decided to yell," Chase argues Markus pulls his hand back which causes Chase to pout slightly but say nothing. Looking slightly rejected, he sits back in the stiff hospital chair and rubs his neck. Markus lays on his side and eyes him with a radiating annoyance I've only seen in my papa.
"So are you going to continue pissing me off by making yourself uncomfortable in that chair or are you going to lay down right here?" Markus asks and Chase looks shocked at first but slowly crawls onto the bed with caution. As if at any moment Markus might change his mind and tell him he was joking. But no such words leave my brother's mouth as Chase lays down beside him and Markus cast his arm around him, pulling Chase close.
"You two are so cute," I coo, but Markus rolls his eyes with an audible 'ew'.
To think it was all fun and games until a red light started flashing and one long continuous beep pronounced itself on my mate's monitor screen.
"Wait! What's going on?" I ask as the room is suddenly flooded with doctors and a nurse rips me back from Alexei. I watch in shock as one doctor starts pumping his chest while the other rubs two paddles together.
"Everybody clear!" He shouts before placing the paddles on Alexei's chest and with a forcible zap everyone in the room holds their breaths.
Alexei, don't you dare leave me alone with three boys
I wouldn't dare
The beeping from before returns and a sudden gasped choking noises fill the air as Alexei opens his eyes once more, focusing his sights directly on me with a painful look of pure happiness in his deep brown eyes.
****************************
AN:
As most of you know, I live in Seattle, Washington. One of the cities currently flooded with riots and protesting that's sweeping the nation. As a minority, I stand with this movement however I'm not going to give some long motivational speech about what's going on because my opinion on this is unrelated to my books.
WHAT IS RELATED HOWEVER is the fact that every single god damn character in this book is what would be considered where I'm from a 'minority' (disclaimer, their actors, however, might not be due to the fact they are so varied).
SO A NOTE TO MY FELLOW AUTHORS, DO NOT WHITE WASH YOUR CHARACTERS
Although Bridgeport/Kailea is a mixing pot, the DNA of Weilex trace back to their heritage
Waylon is Samoan, Irish, Korean, Japanese, African American and Puerto Rican
Alexei is Indian, African, & Middle eastern (Specific areas unknown)
I could go on and on about the rest of the beautiful characters in this book, but yes for my fellow authors, do not be afraid to make your main characters people of a variety of colors or mixed races because these are the characters you want your readers to be able to see themselves in.
I can try to be as inclusive as possible being I'm given the platform to do so. Whether it be Artemis' choice to wear a hijab or breaking the stereotypical gender roles such as with Mason becoming pregnant or a society where everyone's open minded with their fluid sexualities.
Switch it up because that's what makes your book stand out from everyone else's.
Thank you for listening to my TED talk.
ANYWAY how does everyone feel about our next book's main characters Markus & Chase 👀👀👀👀🙊🙈
Since everyone asks
Chase is played by Sebastian Villalobos
Markus is played by Otto Seppalainen